A fisher in his winter coat. (CC/ForestWander)
SALEM, Ore., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- The West Coast fisher is a stealthy, crafty little mammal, one of the few predators to hunt porcupines -- and one prized for its fur by trappers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nearly extirpated by the fur trade by the late 1800s, the critter has made a moderate comeback in more recent decades.
But it's once again under threat, this time a victim of the marijuana industry. As such, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed West Coast populations of fisher be designated as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act -- affording the weasel family member, and close relative of the mink and otter, a few extra protections.
Currently relegated to small pockets of forest in Northern California and Southern Oregon, the fisher has found itself sharing habitat with illegal marijuana farmers who cultivate the drug deep in the wilderness of publicly owned land. The marijuana itself is no danger to the fisher, but the rat poison that farmers use to protect their illegals crops is.
"It is an illegal activity so it's not like we know a lot yet," Paul Henson, Oregon state supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told Jefferson Public Radio. "But we know it's fairly widespread within the range of the fisher, because that's also where a certain amount of the illegal cultivation occurring on public lands."
Of course, marijuana farmers aren't the only entrepreneurs threatening fishers. The usual menace to vulnerable forest-dwelling species is also in play -- loggers.
"This is a complex and challenging issue because threats to the fisher vary across its range," Robyn Thorson, director of the Service's Pacific Region, said in a statement. "We are actively seeking input from the public and stakeholders to help determine the magnitude, severity and scope of those threats in each part of its range in California, Oregon and Washington to ensure we base our final decision on the best information available."
If the proposal to further protect West Coast fishers is approved following the 90-day comment period, the fury cat-sized hunter could become the center of future standoffs between logging interest and environmentalists.
